


a canary in a coal mine

by MuffinCannibal



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, DCTV Secret Santa 2018, F/M, Getting Together, Requited Love, RipFic, Sappy Ending, Time Travel, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 16:59:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17145569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinCannibal/pseuds/MuffinCannibal
Summary: Aruba AU in which Rip stayed with Legends. No Time Bureau, no Mallus, just two people who can’t communicate with each other.





	a canary in a coal mine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blackcanarys](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackcanarys/gifts).



> Part of DCTV Secret Santa 2018. Thanks a lot to lady-adventuress for beta-reading! 
> 
> Ally, happy holidays! Hope you will enjoy this piece. Thank you for being such an amazing human being. ♥

Time works in funny ways, Rip thought as he turned his back from Sara and started walking. Slowly, step by step, to stretch this moment as long as possible – he wanted to say goodbye to every corner and every wall of the ship he’d spent the last years on. From the time he decided to steal the Waverider and go on his rogue mission to this moment, right now – it’d been so long yet he could feel all the memories swirling in the air like dust. And like dust, they couldn’t be removed, not completely. They always came back. This ship was made of memories and endless hours spent drinking and thinking about how to kill Savage, which in the end he finally did. But he hadn’t done it alone, like he’d planned in the beginning. He had a team of people that couldn’t even work together in the beginning, but he gave them a purpose, even if he had to lie. He kept telling himself there were some little white lies that would never be discovered) and to his surprise, they stuck with him. They had even fought for him and saved him from himself. He owed them a lot and he was sure he’d never pay off his debt.

Actually, most of the work was done by one person, who he was leaving behind right now, each step drawing him closer to the exit. Once Mary told him not to remember the past. It was an open wound and even his precious time couldn’t heal it. Nothing could. It took him some time to fully understand this lesson, but even now, in this never-ending, stretched moment, he remembered it all: losing himself in his own mind and trying to kill Sara, the last person who he’d ever want to hurt. A punch of sadness hit him every time that memory came to his mind.

So he had to go. If he couldn’t even trust himself, how he could expect the Legends to? He wasn’t the same person, not anymore. He wasn’t even a Time Master. But he knew there were so many things to do, especially now, when time was at war with itself, because the Spear of Destiny had fallen into the wrong hands. The Legends could work it all out, he was sure of it, but he owed them at least some kind of guidance in that mission even if he doubted himself, even if he didn’t believe he could be their captain. He still had a lot of important knowledge that could be used to restore time to its original state. The moment had passed. He stopped walking.

But time worked in funny ways, indeed.

 

“Rip?” Sara called, when she saw him hesitating. She could’ve said more, but that was the first thing on the tip of her tongue. She’d said his name so many times, but now it sounded much different. There was a bit of surprise in her voice, but it was mostly relief. She didn’t want him to go, she didn’t know if she could continue to be the captain since she’d taken that role by accident and some kind of twisted fate. With Rip gone, she’d been the most highly-skilled person on board, she hadn’t had any choice. But now that he was back… he could be the captain again. A soft tug in her heart was telling her it was much more than simply caring about the team that made her so relieved to see him turn around with a gentle smile on his lips and his eyes not daring to look at her, but it was a truth that she’d buried deep down inside of her months ago when she found herself crying for hours after seeing his final message. She could say more. But maybe that one word said it all.

“This will always be your ship,” she said when he didn’t move, just stood there looking at her – like he was seeing her for the first time. Maybe he was, indeed. “You’re the captain, so… stay.” Even if she was just denying her own previous words, she knew she had to be honest. It was probably the last crucial moment, the one turning point that in books would be called the climax of the story, even though her life never looked like the one from fairytales. She’d been her own hero, a knight in shining armor, fighting her way through a story called life.

“I’m not sure if–” he started but Sara interrupted him immediately.

“You are. You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met, Rip.” She quoted his own words that she’d heard from him once upon a time, like it was a secret spell. But maybe it worked, because he finally looked at her and a short laugh escaped his mouth.

“That’s a good line, Ms Lance. I think I heard it once.” He shook his head and took the last step to face her again. “And you proved I was right, again.” His mouth twitched a bit, like the ghost of the grin that hadn’t settled on his face in such a long time.

“About what?” She tilted her head, not following his train of thought. Like always, Rip Hunter was thinking about something she was just about to realise, he was one step ahead of her like always. “You’re the captain this team needs.”

“So are you.”

“Are you suggesting we could be co-captains? I’m not sure if the team would agree to have as many as two people telling them what to do.”

“We’ll see about that.” She winked at him, accepting an unsaid bet.

“Yeah, I suppose we will.”

 

Time might’ve been broken, but not the team. They fought their way through it, piece by piece putting it together with such care, like the most precious puzzle in the universe, which wasn’t that far from the truth. The beginnings of the co-captains era on the Waverider weren’t easy for anyone (including Gideon) but they worked it all out somehow. Rip caught himself sometimes wondering how his life would’ve looked if he’d taken that one final step and left the ship. Maybe he’d be drinking his sorrows away in a tiny apartment somewhere near the sea, the sound of the waves lulling him to sleep. Maybe he would’ve created an organisation inspired by the Time Masters, but trying to be better than them and not conspiring with immortal killers. But he was sure about one thing – he would’ve been lonely. Now he wasn’t.

The unspoken thing between him and Sara had stopped gathering steam when they were apart, but now that he was back on the Waverider, the tension was building up again, even though Rip was sure he was still the only one to feel it. The hours spent getting drunk and talking with Sara (or sitting in silence, listening to each other’s pain) weren’t helping much, especially when she fell asleep on his shoulder and he didn’t dare to move to wake her up, so he spent the night sitting on the floor, back to his desk and Sara’s head on his shoulder. In these moments Rip couldn’t stop wondering if there would be ever time to talk about it. His heart clenched tight at the thought, like it was a story written deep inside him in a secret language he couldn’t understand. The universe decided that whenever they were close, they had to be separated. But Rip knew he must’ve been overthinking and seeing things that weren’t true. Because it couldn’t be, right? That question opened the endless gates of his mind, it went banging and swinging, making him ask himself that every time he looked at her. He didn’t deserve her and even time itself knew that. And maybe that was okay. At least he had a privilege of working with her. Even though sometimes he caught her looking at him like she thought he wouldn’t notice. But he did. Every time.

Some missions were easier than others and even the Legends couldn’t bollocks them up. Some were harder. Even though it seemed like child’s play, but soon it turned out to have a big impact on his personal life.

 

“A gold train? Finally, you’re speaking my language.” A mischievous smile appeared on Mick’s lips as he heard the description of their new mission – the Nazi gold train hidden somewhere in Poland, all the precious goods stolen during World War II waiting for a lucky finder.

Rip shook his head, even if he wasn’t completely surprised to see his teammate’s reaction. After all, Mick had been chosen because he was a thief. “Mr Rory, I truly understand your intentions but unfortunately we’re here to take care of time, not steal old paintings and gold. Not to mention they rightfully belong to Poland and we’re going to give it back to them.” He turned away from him to reread the files that Gideon had provided a few minutes ago. Sara was standing next to him, following his moves completely unconsciously, like a perfectly tuned clockwork.

“We need to find it and then, what? Give it back just like that? I don’t like it,” Mick protested. Rip sighed and when he was about to open his mouth to remind him about their mission again, when Sara anticipated him.

“Mick, you’ve been part of this team long enough to know why we’re here,” she said. The Brit looked like her a bit surprised, but there was a hint of pride in his eyes. “But later, who knows?” She winked at him with a smile that probably melted the hearts of every person she’d ever offered it to... him included.

It wasn’t that hard to give yourself up to her charm, and Rip caught himself staring at her for a bit too long so like always, he cleared his throat and got back to the reality. “Gideon, please plot course for Poland, January 1945.”

 

“It’s a coal mine!” Ray announced maybe a bit too enthusiastically, taking the fist step ahead of the team. When Rip decided that the mission wasn’t carrying a big risk, Jax and Professor Stein were free to visit their families and to no one’s surprise, Nate and Amaya agreed to stay on board. It was the two captains with a thief and a billionaire with the ATOM suit who were facing Poland during World War II. The cold was unbearable and Rip caught himself thinking how much he would’ve preferred to stay on board of the warm Waverider. He reminded himself that saving time was worth it all and catching a cold wasn’t a big price to do so. He looked around, a laser gun steady in the pocket of his old coat.

Sara was wearing her White Canary outfit with only a thin jacket on top of it, but didn’t seem to notice the low temperature. “It’s so quiet here. Odd, don’t you think?” She looked around, eyes narrowed and ready to catch anything unusual on their way.

“This coal mine has been out of service since even before the war started.” All of them heard Nate’s words in the earbuds, which only led to all of them rolling their eyes at the same time, but you couldn’t fight with historian Nate, who was always ready to bandy facts around.

“I don’t like it,” Mick said when he followed his team inside. He hadn’t stayed on the ship since the promise of precious goods was still real. Even if Rip refused outright to take anything, Heat Wave had his old tricks up his sleeve and he wouldn’t give up that easily.

“So, captains, what do we do now?” Ray patted the pocket of his shirt where the ATOM suit rested, waiting patiently to be used.

“Go inside,” both of them answered in the same time, which made them smile immediately. “Let’s move.”

 

The coal mine had definitely been abandoned and out of service for a long time, just like Nate said. Rip found himself wondering if Gideon’s calculations were right because there were no signs of the gold train or any train in general. He looked at Sara as she was walking a few steps ahead of him; he could tell she had all her senses on alert. Her mind was telling her something was wrong but she still couldn’t name it.

“No gold train. It’s boring and I’m hungry,” Mick complained after they had been walking without saying anything for a few long moments.

“Mr Rory, no one promised exciting missions and killing people every time.” A soft sigh followed Rip’s words as he turned his head to face his bored teammate. “We need to find this train before it’s too...” A big explosion interrupted him and the last thought in Rip’s mind before he passed out, was concern for his team. And Sara. He wouldn’t forgive himself if something happened to her. Not when he had so much to tell her. Even if he wasn’t sure if he’d ever had the courage to let the words leave his mouth.

 

He woke up first, and the darkness welcomed him with its open hands. He patted himself and when his hand found its way to one of many secret pockets in his coat, he pulled out a small torch. Even if he was a man from the 22nd century, his sentiment towards Earth history and all old gadgets was always winning against any modern technology. He turned it on to see Sara lying on the ground not so far away from him and a wall of stones that was separating their way out. There was no sign of the rest of his team. “Mr Palmer? Mr Rory? Can you hear me?” He spoke in to the comms, hoping that everyone was safe.

After a few moments that felt like eternity, he heard Ray’s voice. “Yeah, we’re fine. Maybe a bit bruised, but that’s all. Is Sara with you there?”

“I’m here, no need to speak about me like I’m not.” She woke up just in time to interrupt their conversation and witness the worry on Rip’s face turning into a big relief, which was something she’d never seen before. Something that she wanted to ask him about, but there was no time since they were stuck in a coal mine in Western Europe during World War II.

“Mr Heywood, please set a course to our current location.” The simple command left Rip’s lips as if it was the simplest solution on Earth. But the answer didn’t come right away and definitely it wasn’t something he expected to hear.

“I can’t.” Two words, but what they really meant? Four people trapped underground with the air supply running out. The clock was ticking.

“What?” Rip told himself that maybe Nate was joking – even if it wasn’t a good joke and definitely not in time to do so, but Rip would take it if it only meant they could leave this coal mine as soon as possible.

“There’s something wrong with the system and Gideon isn’t responding to any of my commands, Rip.”

 

“Wait. You’re telling me we’re stuck here? And Gideon can’t pilot the ship?” As soon as Rip finished his conversation with Nate, Sara bombarded him with questions, shock painted all over her face; this mission was supposed to be a cake walk, not being frozen four thousand feet under the ground in a country torn in a war that was killing hundreds of people every day.

“Something happened to the time drive, but it was all perfectly fine when we left.” Rip wasn’t paying attention to Sara’s questions, still lost in thoughts and walking the short distance between one wall of the rocks to another. “Mr Jefferson performed all crucial repairs earlier and I’m sure he didn’t miss anything. But then… what happened?” He was still walking, almost bouncing off the walls that kept them separated from the rest of the team and the world outside.

“Rip, stop it, you won’t help much if you keep walking in circles.” A soft sigh left her throat and he looked at her just in time when a shiver ran down her spine and she couldn’t help but shake.

“Sara, are you alright?” He put his arms on her shoulders, a movement he’d performed many times before but this time it felt so intimate, with tight walls of rock around them and the air supply running out with every breath they took.

“I’m fine, it’s just… so cold here.” When she finished the sentence, Rip immediately took his coat off and put it around Sara.

“Is this better?” he asked with a gentle smile that was reserved only for a few specific people. A nod answered his question and he sat next to her, body to body, trying to keep warm in the harsh conditions. This time silence wasn’t their enemy since they were used to spending so much time drinking without saying words, only exchanging looks and having whole conversations unspoken. Rip never thought of it as a problem, he felt comfortable with Sara and the fact that she always knew what he needed was probably one of the reasons he had fallen for her. Suddenly his body tensed and his heart started beating faster. He loved her and the realisation struck him like a bolt of lightning out of nowhere, even if the whole process had been slow. Maybe falling in love was like falling asleep, when you closed your eyes and drifted away slowly. But then the sleep came suddenly, unannounced. He knew she could feel the change in his body, but both of them preferred to ignore it.

When his heart finally learned its old rhythm again, Sara suddenly told him something he didn’t expect. “I’m sorry.”

He looked at her, hoping he misheard her words. “Sorry for what?”

“When you were Phil… and the Legion of Doom took you and played with your brain… I could’ve prevented this. At the dump, I could have just run and taken you back to the Waverider.” There was a vast sadness in her voice, burrowed deep in her heart, like there was something else Sara was apologising for, but couldn’t say out loud.

“Sara, it’s been so long. You don’t have to apologise, it wasn’t your fault. None of it was. Actually, you were the one who saved me.” Rip shook his head, worry lines between his eyes. He had slowly come to terms with what happened when he was with the Legion of Doom, but the thought that Sara was blaming herself for it made him ache for her, so intensely it was like his own sadness.

“You saved me first, you know. I was just paying off the debt,” she whispered, not daring to look at him. There were more things to say, but she was still holding herself back, even after all this time. After her words they sat in silence for a while, both of them lost in thoughts. But it wasn’t the same kind of silence that rose between them when they were getting drunk on the Waverider, with only the sound of pouring drinks interrupting it. It was a moment when both of them were facing a truth that had gone unsaid for so long that it almost got buried down with them in that coal mine.

“I was selfish. I needed you to get Savage.” The words felt heavy on his tongue after that silence because he knew they weren’t the right ones. The right ones were too important, yet so far away from him. He had so many occasions to let them fall from his mouth, but he never dared. The memories of all the moments he almost said it, stirred up so many emotions that he wasn’t ready to deal with right now, not in this forgotten coal mine.

“And we did that, Rip,” she said gently, interrupting his thoughts, a shadow of a smile flickering on her lips. A victory that had cost them so much time, but nothing tasted better than a well-deserved one.

“So we’re even?” The question left his mouth right after she finished the sentence. He hoped that it’d cover the thunder of his heart that yet again was pounding in his chest like a promise of something worth waiting for, even if his mind kept telling him it couldn’t happen. But there was also a shy feeling of hope rising in him, like maybe, just maybe they had finally reached the moment he’d seen in his dreams countless times, but now it was reality and he wouldn’t have to wake up.

“No, not really,” Sara said.

He looked at her as if he saw her for the very first time in his life. Sara Lance, always ready to surprise him. Maybe it wasn’t her who couldn’t keep up with him, but the other way around.

She cleared her throat, taking her time to collect her thoughts. She knew it was one of these moments that could change anything, but there was no turning back now. “You see, I’ve been thinking about it for a long time and I know I shouldn’t be saying this but...”

 

“But I love you. I wanted to tell you that earlier, but when I thought I was ready, you got captured and now we’re stuck here and probably soon we’ll suffocate to death and...” Sara’s voice echoed in the console room and while Nate was standing rooted, completely unable to do anything, Amaya made her way over to turn off the stream from her teammates’ comms in one quick move.

“That’s not our conversation to hear, Nathaniel,” she reprimanded him. Even if her voice was serious, the warm smile on her lips was giving a completely opposite message. Not only was she rooting for Rip and Sara, but the whole team was as well.

“Sorry, I’m just… I’m surprised it took them that long. But never mind.” He shook his head, a sudden mischievous smile playing on his lips. “We’ve got something to do,” he said and took her hand to lead them to his room.

 

“Rip? Are you alright? You’ve been staring at me for a few minutes. It’s not something that I expected to see after my love declaration, but please could you at least say something?” She laughed, a bit too nervously, trying to play it all off like nothing had happened. But it was too late now, the words were said and she could only pray for an answer that wouldn’t make her feel like she was the biggest idiot in the galaxy. (But she was anyway, if she believed that Rip could reciprocate her feelings. She was so sure he couldn’t that she didn’t notice the way his eyes glowed every time he looked at her. She didn’t know how wrong she was.)

“Sara, I...” he started, his mind working as fast as possible. He tried so hard to find the right words, but were there any? Suited for a situation like this one, when the person you love said all the things you wanted to hear, but your brain was telling you it was all a fantasy caused by the lack of air? But there was also the heart and it always knew the way to act in these moments and Rip gave it full permission. In the shadow of his torch, her face was so close to him, so his hand found its way to her cheek. And then after he softly stroked it, he kissed her, gently at first, like he was afraid none of it was real and he wanted to touch her lips to make himself believe—then with building intensity that made her cling to him, even if their breaths were shallow and every one could be the last. It didn’t matter anymore. Their kiss was the only solid thing in this place and their lips worked so perfectly like they’d met before, a dance long abandoned, yet never forgotten. He knew every move…up until he heard Gideon’s voice in his earbud. That was something neither of them expected, not in that perfect moment both of them had been waiting for.

“Sorry, Captains, something was corrupting my core data. There are no signs of the gold train anymore. It was all a legend.” Her voice sounded normal like always, but Rip caught a slight tone of worry on the edges that didn’t bode well. Even if his mind was still fixated on the memory of Sara’s lips, he needed to be the captain now (otherwise he wouldn’t have a chance to kiss Sara again, anyway).

“So we came all the way here for nothing?” Mick’s complaint reminded them of his presence.

Rip cleared his throat to buy himself some time to get back to reality. “I have to disagree, Mr Rory. Now we know someone’s playing with us and Gideon’s data. It’s something big. But first of all, we need to get out of here.” Rip looked at his hand, held by Sara. When his gaze shifted to her eyes, she gave him a bright smile that could’ve been visible in any darkness. Whatever the danger was, they would face it. Together.

 

“It’s snowing,” she said when her eyesight adapted to the daylight again. Everything around them was white and ice was falling from the sky in flakes. As they’d been busy finally speaking the unsaid thing between them out loud, Nate and Amaya had found a way to reset Gideon while Ray gathered the town’s residents to help them dig the captains up, Mick in the meantime was looking for the gold train, not believing it had been made up as part of some bigger plan.

“Yeah, it is.” Rip couldn’t help but grin at her words. He stopped walking for a moment and caught a fresh breath. “I’m glad we didn’t end up in a scenario from one of your favourite horrors, Sara.”

A short laugh escaped her but then she took one step closer to him and grabbed his coat to pull him closer and kiss him. “Horror films might be my favourite, but I like romantic comedies too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thanks a lot for reading. Feedback is much appreciated! A small FAQ:  
> 1\. A canary in a coal mine (idiomatic) -- something whose sensitivity to adverse conditions makes it a useful early indicator of such conditions; something which warns of the coming of greater danger or trouble by a deterioration in its health or welfare.  
> 2\. Yeah, the legend about the Nazi gold train is true (although I changed some small details to fit it more into my story.) Find more about it here: https://www.inyourpocket.com/wroclaw/riese-complex-the-legend-of-the-nazi-gold-train_71209f  
> 3\. If I find more time, I'll definitely continue this (as a part of re-writing lot s3 as you can see I'm not a big fan of it...)  
> 4\. If you want to scream over Rip/Sara with me, find me @ bitfairytaled (both tumblr & twitter.)


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